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Southern Africa: SADC Considers Single Visa for Member States
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Tshwarelo Eseng Mogakane
Nelspruit
Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have signed a deal to speed up the process of establishing a single visa system, or Univisa, for travelers in the SADC region.
Spokesperson for South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Moses Rannditsheni, said a Univisa would ease the movement of travelers within southern Africa.
"The Univisa will facilitate efficient movement in the region, which will positively impact on tourism revenue for all member states," he said on Thursday.
"This process seeks to bring to an end delays and the inconvenience of visa applications."
The deal was signed at SADC's inter-ministerial conference held in Luanda, Angola last week, where the department's Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi represented South Africa.
Ms Mabudafhasi told delegates at the conference that statistics of foreign arrivals in the past few years indicated that the SADC region was month the top preferred tourist destinations.
Tourism growth would help eradicate poverty by creating jobs, she said, calling for more bilateral discussions to take place about allowing SADC citizens to move within the region without a visa.
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Ms Mabudafhasi said the Univisa would operate similarly to the European Schengen visa system.
Member states still have to resolve outstanding issues such as costs, policy agreements, procedures and requirements for issuing the Univisa.
South Africa is one of 14 SADC member states including Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.
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